EPA to probe wind farm noise

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) will begin monitoring low frequency noise around the Waterloo Wind Farm, in northern South Australia, later this year.

It says it will monitor noise levels for two months from the homes of residents near the wind farm in the Clare Valley.

The director of science and assessment with the EPA, Peter Dolan, says the monitoring will be used to determine if the current wind farm guidelines adequately take noise issues into account.

He says the current guidelines deal with audible noise but the effects of lower frequency sound needs to be investigated.

“Not everybody is affected by wind farms, either in the Clare Valley or around other wind farms, but some people are very affected and appear to have very significant issues with them and we’re trying to understand that better,” he said.

Local resident and advocate Mary Morriss says they are hoping scientific evidence may lead to guideline changes in regards to where wind farms can be built.

She says some residents have already left their homes because of the noise.

“Those four families don’t live there any more,” she said.

“They come back to do work some of them but basically they can’t sleep in their own home, they’ve had to make other arrangements, some of them live in a shed or a caravan.”